Gordie Howe, recognized as the greatest NHL player who ever lived, died on Friday, the Red Wings announced.

Mr. Howe, affectionately known around the world as "Mr. Hockey", was 88.

Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, Howe played 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings and helped them win four Stanley Cup championships. He scored 801 goals and 1,850 points in 1,767 regular-season games spanning 26 NHL seasons.

Howe was an incandescent star with the Red Wings almost from the time he arrived in 1946 as an 18-year-old, scoring in his first NHL game. Howe went on to play 25 seasons with Detroit, one more in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers and six in the World Hockey Association.

He played 1,924 NHL games (regular season and playoffs) and 497 in the WHA. He finished at age 52 with 801 regular-season NHL goals and 68 in the playoffs, helping the Red Wings win the Stanley Cup four times.

Howe was an NHL All-Star 23 times. He was the League's top scorer in four straight seasons, from 1951-54, and again in 1956-57 and 1962-63, winning the Art Ross Trophy six times. He was a six-time recipient of the Hart Trophy as the NHL most valuable player and a record-setter across numerous categories, setting standards that were believed to be out of reach until Wayne Gretzky came along in the 1980s.

_________________

Quote:

Detroit vs. EverybodyClowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right....